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Five Billion Years Of Solitude: The Search For Life Among The Stars (2013)

by Lee Billings(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1617230065 (ISBN13: 9781617230066)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Current Hardcover

review 1: Five Billion Years of Solitude, written by Lee Billings, is an excellent primer on the issues of life, death and survival facing the human race. The primary subject is the search for exoplanets, but Billings covers much more than that. He describes in understandable terms the geological history of the Earth (in the process debunking the pseudo-science of Creationism), the search for extraterrestrial life and habitable planets, and issues of more current interest, such as what the real stakes are in the climate change debate. Here are some of his more interesting conclusions. (1) We could be at the very end of Earth's ability to host complex life. After 1500 million years of evolution from microbial to intelligent life, and after enduring several mass extinctions along th... moree way, Earth may have only 100-400 million years left as a host for life, depending on how well or badly our Sun behaves. (2) The geometric expansion of humanity's use of resources points to an endpoint, a few hundred years from now, when our economic development can no longer be supported by the resources of just one planet. (3) Our extinction as a species could come even sooner than that, and along with it the mass extinction of most of the species that currently exist on Earth. (4) Our current space exploration program has been a tragicomedy of errors ever since the Nixon Administration. If a bad strategic decision could be made, we made it, blowing our best opportunities to embark on a sustainable program of exploration and exploitation of the resources of the solar system. There is much wisdom in this book, and I highly recommend it.
review 2: Are we alone? This book is about the search for other planets like Earth in the universe. The author has done extensive interviews with the leading scientists who have dedicated their lives to this quest. They each have different ideas about how we should be accomplishing this goal and where the funding should be going. The types of projects are really fascinating as well as the perspectives of the scientists. The author takes us behind the scenes at the different places where the work goes on and introduces us to some of the ground breakers. I loved this book. I liked the way the author put the reader in his shoes as he interviewed these amazing people. I felt like I was there, listening in. He also gives an informative history of our planet and the people who asked the question, is life out there? less

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